It is once again our honor and privilege to debut Cigar City Brewing Company's new can designs. The Tampa brewery has so far released four of their beers in cans and will be releasing at least five more brands in cans in the near future as well as giving their Maduro Brown Ale a redesign. Cigar City fans can expect to see Tocobaga Red Ale, Invasion Pale Ale, José Martí American Porter, Humidor Series IPA and Jai Alai IPA Aged on White Oak sometime in the coming months. Special thanks to Geiger Powell, designer at Cigar City, for sharing these with us. They look amazing!

TOCOBAGA RED ALE

Originally we thought Cigar City's Tocobaga Red Ale was going to be part of the initial can releases. The good news is that despite being on hold it will be part of the next canning round. According to the Cigar City site, "The Tocobaga lived off the bounty of Tampa Bay hundreds of years before the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500’s. They were potters, tool makers and the only Florida natives to grow maize. The large platform mounds they built are still with us today, with one of the largest found near Old Tampa Bay in Safety Harbor, Florida.

Climb to the top, and with a little imagination, you can see Tampa Bay as they did."

ABV 7.2%75 IBUs

Can design by Eric Swanson

INVASION PALE ALE

A draft only beer that has worked its way on to the canning line. "This is something we've been trying to do for a while: a very hoppy yet very sessionable American pale ale made for crushing at a high rate. This guy clocks in at 5% ABV and is the perfect pirate-y beer!"

ABV 5%

Can design by Geiger Powell

JOSÉ MARTÍ ROBUSTLY HOPPED AMERICAN PORTER

"José Martí was a pivotal figure in Cuban history leading an insurrection that ultimately resulted in Cuban Independence from Spain and was revered by Tampa cigar rollers for his support of cigar factory workers and his fiery speeches in Tampa in support of Cuban Independence. This is a heavily hopped high gravity porter featuring the hopping levels of an India Pale Ale with the rich and roasty malt profile of a robust porter. Heavy hop rates, while uncommon in today's porters were not unknown historically and recipes from the British porter producers of the 1800's evidence hopping rates far in excess of what is common for the style today."

ABV 8%65 IBUs

Can design by Geiger Powell

HUMIDOR SERIES INDIA PALE ALE

We can't begin to explain just how excited we are about this one. "The Humidor Series is a rotating offering of Cigar City Brewing beer aged on cedar. Cedar has a more subtle effect on beer than more traditional woods like oak. Each beer in the Humidor Series is aged on Spanish cedar (cedrela), the same wood used to make cigar boxes. The Spanish cedar imparts notes of white pepper, sandalwood and other spices.

Our flagship beer in the Humidor Series is Humidor Series India Pale Ale. We start with Jai Alai IPA as a base beer and add the cedar during secondary fermentation. The cedar provides a perfect balance with the assertive hops of Jai Alai to create an entirely new experience.

Personally, this is one of the best beers I've ever had (just my humble opinion). It has an extremely impressive 100 rating on RateBeer.

ABV 7.5%70 IBUs

Can design by Geiger Powell

JAI ALAI IPA AGED ON WHITE OAK

Inside this can will be "an American White Oak-aged version of Jai Alai India Pale Ale. The white oak adds smoothing notes of vanilla and slight hints of dill to the aroma and flavor profile. The finish is elegantly dry due to the light tannin notes from oak aging and though still loaded with hop flavor, hop bitterness is more restrained." 99 rating on RateBeer! Nothing to scoff at that is for sure!

ABV 7.5%70 IBUs

Can design by Geiger Powell

MADURO BROWN ALE

Cigar City will be giving their Maduro Brown Ale a new look. The can may look a bit different but its still the same world class brown ale inside.

"Maduro is a Northern English-style brown ale with some American affectations. Maduro is higher in alcohol than the common English brown ale and features flaked oats in the malt bill which imparts a silky body and works to mesh the roasted, toasted and chocolate components together in Maduro's complex malt profile. The end result is a remarkably full-flavored yet approachable and sessionable brown ale that pairs well with mild to medium cigars."